On the Swimming of \textit{Dictyostelium} amoebae

Traditionally, the primary mode for locomotion of amoeboid cells was thought to be crawling on a substrate. Recently, it has been experimentally shown that \textit{Dictostelium} amoeba and neutrophils can also swim in a directed fashion. The mechanisms for amoeboid crawling and swimming were hypothesized to be similar. In this letter, we show that the shape changes generated by a crawling \textit{D. discoideum} cell are consistent with swimming.Comment: letter submitted to PNA

IIB or not IIB: Endometrial biopsy evaluation in horses using the Kenney-Doig scale

The Kenney-Doig scale is a histopathologic grading system used as the international standard for assessing endometrial pathology and communicating prognostic fertility information for equine breeding prospects. The descriptive modifiers used for the scale are potentially subjective and as such they may not produce repeatable results between different observers and may contribute to certain grades of the scale acting as a ‘catch all’. To investigate the frequencies of Kenney-Doig grades assigned at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and Prairie Diagnostic Services (hereafter referred to as WCVM/PDS), a retrospective analysis of all equine endometrial submissions was completed from records between 1998 and 2018. Of 726 biopsies, the following grading distribution was found: 46/726 (6.3%) as category I, 307/726 (42.3%) as category IIA, 326/726 (44.9%) as category IIB, and 47/726 (6.5%) as category III. For comparison purposes, a retrospective review of the literature was completed and six different studies reporting Kenney-Doig grading distributions were included. Chi-square analysis showed significant differences between the grading distribution found at WCVM/PDS and each grading distribution reported in the six studies. To account for differences in mare populations, individual grading distributions were generated for five pathologists at the WCVM/PDS. Fisher’s exact test between these five Kenney-Doig grading distributions revealed significant differences in grading tendencies, suggesting the presence of observer variation. While comparisons from the retrospective review were limited by differences in mare populations, a prospective study was then completed to directly test inter-rater and intra-rater agreement of eight American College of Veterinary certified pathologists who were recruited to blindly grade the same set of 63 digitized equine endometrial biopsy slides as well as blindly re-evaluating 21/63 of these slides at a later time point. Cohen’s kappa was used to measure inter-rater agreement and kappa values for pairwise comparison of final Kenney-Doig grades ranged from -0.052 to 0.458 (unweighted) and 0.082 to 0.638 (weighted), with an average Light’s kappa of 0.187 (unweighted) and 0.359 (weighted) across all eight pathologists, 0.143 (unweighted) and 0.330 (weighted) for pathologists practicing at different institutions, and 0.216 (unweighted) and 0.464 (weighted) for pathologists at the same institution. Intra-class correlations measuring intra-rater agreement ranged from 0.116 to 0.774 with an average of 0.553 for all eight pathologists. This study shows only slight to moderate inter-rater agreement and poor to good intra-rater agreement is produced by the Kenney-Doig scale, suggesting that the system may be unreliable and subject to significant observer variability

This Letter Is For My Papa

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/6526/thumbnail.jp

WPS, CRSV and sexual exploitation and abuse in peace operations: making sense of the missing links

In 2013, a UN investigation declared sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) ‘the most significant risk to UN peacekeeping missions, above and beyond other key risks including protection of civilians.’1 Former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon himself argued that ‘a single substantiated case of [SEA] involving UN personnel is one case too many’,2 and his successor, António Guterres has made reforming the UN’s SEA policies a cornerstone of his tenure. Yet, despite over 15 years of policy development designed to prevent SEA and hold perpetrators accountable, both civilian and military personnel associated with peacekeeping operations (PKOs) continue to perpetrate such act

Applications of Nanoparticles for Treating Cutaneous Infection

Today, nanotechnology is finding applications in medicine. The unique physical and chemical properties of nanoparticles can overcome barriers and allow them to gain access to biological systems. Because of the increasing prevalence of microbial resistance to conventional therapies, the development of novel antimicrobials is imperative. Creating nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems with antibacterial and immunomodulatory activities may lead to novel treatments for cutaneous pathogens

Physiological effects of progressive relaxation in trained runners during submaximal treadmill exercise

To determine the physiological effects of a one-week progressive relaxation protocol on exercise efficiency, five trained, male runners volunteered to participate in this study. The results of this study show that it is possible to reduce heart rate during progressive relaxation at rest, after one week of training. In addition, the results of this study indicate that although there was a significant reduction in minute ventilation during exercise, VO 2 did not change. These results suggests that there was no carry-over effect while exercising, therefore one week of progressive relaxation may not be long enough or an effective technique to conserve energy while exercising. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

I\u27ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/1764/thumbnail.jp